Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Sabeeh sent a letter to the National Assembly Speaker stating the ministry has started investigating irregularities detected in Kuwait Transparency Society (KTS) among the board chairman and some members of the body, including members who have resigned, reports a local daily. Looking at the official documents presented by the board chairman and his members, investigators have noticed that the board committed violations and operated outside the purpose for which it has been established, and violated Articles 6 and 30 of Law 6/1962 and other violations stated in the report.

Report

Based on the context of the report, Al-Sabeeh said the ministry concluded the violations have reached the highest level requiring immediate intervention in order to protect the interests of members of KTS, and from this perception, the ministry has taken the decision to dissolve the board of KTS and assign a temporary board to take over the administration of the body. She explained the decision has been taken based on Article 27 of Law 24/1962 stipulating that the Minister of Social Affairs has the power to issue decision to establish a temporary board to replace an elected board instead of dissolving the entire body or club if the decision will protect the interests of members the society. Issuing the decision to dissolve the current board to establish a temporary body is one process requiring a general assembly and election of a new board in a period of one year.

Kuwait’s Public Anti- Corruption Authority (PACA), in coordination with the Basel Institute on Governance, has launched a two-week training course for PACA’s personnel, employees of the Central Bank of Kuwait, the Audit Bureau and the Public Prosecution. Judge Riad Al-Hajeri, the authority’s deputy chief, indicated in a statement at the course opening, on Sunday, that such a course is necessary for the personnel in shadow of rapid development in methods and means of financial and administrative transactions. The program tackles two basic themes; financial investigation and assets’ recovery as well as investigating corruption in infrastructural and procurement projects.

Suspended

The authority is keen on meeting terms of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, he affirmed, noting necessity of such activities for safeguarding national resources. Kuwait Stock Market Authority Sunday suspended 41 companies for violating the Stock Exchange regulations and not declaring their financial statements for the first quarter of the year at the end of the deadline last Thursday, reports a local daily.

Sources said the Stock Exchange Committee had given the companies seven days to amend their status before imposing sanctions that could lead to complete closure of the violating companies, most of which are into financial services and real estate. They noted 10 companies from each sector have failed to declare their financial statements and half of them have yet to declare their profits.